Ramblings about knitting, life, exploits, and other things.

August 18, 2012

The Temptations - Part I

As I mentioned the other day, I entered the Stitches Market with a plan.

That plan included buying NO YARN until I'd seen the whole market. It was a good plan.

It very nearly went astray right at the start. The first booth we went to was Lost City Knits. Now, I've been corresponding with Denise for years; she's been an incredible supporter of Seasons of Lace, and I've grown quite fond of her. This was my first chance to meet her face to face, and I got to/had to do it surrounded by the luscious yarn she dyes.

If not for Elizabeth's reminders that we're sticking to the plan, and looking before we buy, I might well have yielded to temptation right there, even though I do have some of that her at home. A luscious hank of Pathways Merino Sock,whose picture I appear to have failed to take, and an exquisite hank of Lost City Silk with some matching beads ...

But there was so much more wonderful yarn in the booth...

As you may recall, I left that booth to go find Franklin. That meant I returned to Aisle 900 (our starting block) alone, unguarded, and in a position to go right back in to Denise's Den of Desireable Dyed-stuff.

I was strong. All I did was write down a bunch of stuff that I'd like to have. Notably, more of the above goodies. Do you realize how hard it was to resist this:

Pathways Merino Sock in Young At Heart (or the Pageantry, which I loved, but which isn't on the web site)

[and here I am ganking pics from her site -- linking of course - click the pictures]

or maybe this one (Silk/Merino Blend.... ymmmm):

Thank heavens for the list! I wrote down my choices, and was able to move onward. (Later consultation revealed that Elizabeth's list from Lost City Knits was plenty long too.)

Since I could not actually buy from all of the people who tempted me, I thought I'd share their links, and my preferences here. A wee bit of advertising -- and -- a place where I'm sure I won't lose this information so I can go back later when funds allow. (Aren't I just the tricky one).

I was able to walk past two whole booths before being sucked into temptation again.

In Booth 907, we discovered the Plucky Knitter's Primo Fingering yarn. It was oh so soft, and yummy (it has cashmere in it. No wonder I like it). Alas, it's not on the web site right now. If you're curious, you can see some details at its Ravelry page. My favorite colors aren't up where I can find them, so you'll just have to trust me. The regular Sock yarn is the same weight and twist, without the cashmere. Perhaps one could work the feet in Sock and then cuff in cashmere.... ahem... I'm getting distracted again. Sorry.

Somewhere along Aisle 900 (I'm embarassed to say I no longer know in which booth it was in), Elizabeth and I found Madeline Tosh Lace. I'd been able to resist this stuff online all this time. But now I've touched it. And for that matter, I've discovered Tosh DK. All I can say is ymmm. So soft! And it's superwash even. I hadnt' realized superwash could be so soft. Luckily, I've no plans in particular for yarns like this, and so was able to merely take note in my list. Madeline Tosh was in lots of places. Tempting every time. And just expensive enough that resistance wasn't horrible.

Moving up the Aisle, we encountered The Fold handily crossing the end of the first aisles in Booths 930 and 839. The Fold is a dangerous store. First off, Toni owns it, and I just adore her. Buying yarn there is like supporting an old friend. But also..they stock Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarns. The BFL Sport is currently priced very well. I came so very close to bringing home two hanks (in either Morticia or Smoke on the Water to make a sweater for myself. I'm kind of wishing I hadn't resisted, but I know where Toni's shop is, and how to reach her. If the pining continues, I can do something about it.

I only narrowly escaped two hanks of Socks that Rock (in Cirulea and Rocky Fledge) and/or a skein of Silkie in Auroroa Borealis , just becasue I love those yarns. But the list kept me strong.... ish. All color images here ganked from Blue Moon's site.

As we progressed, Elizabeth prowled shops that were otherwise low on the temptation scale for Chia Goo lace needles in 32" lengths, but the first Aisle revealed none.

It was soon time to turn down the next Aisle to see what Aisle 800 had to offer.

In Booth 833, we found Oasis Yarns. I'm fond of them, because they have supported Seasons of Lace with yummy prizes in the past. This year, they had a yummy new-to-me yarn: Shalimar Yarn'sBreathless. I was drawn to the color they call Heraldic (I failed to take it's picture, and can't find it listed, so it may be a discontinued color). It is one where dye lot makes a big difference, so I do kind of regret not picking it up. The two dye lots they had were so different (and one was much nicer than the other) that I daren't order that one on line anywhere. Shalimar's Homage was also tempting, but the Breathless totally wins that debate.

In booth 830, that crossed over into 732, we found Zen Garden. Their yarn was oh so tempting. I think I could have happily taken home half the shop. Alas, their lovely lovely yarn was too pricey for my pocket book. Perhaps it's the high percentage of silk content.

At Booth 824, we found Dragonfly Fibers. Suprise surprise, there was temptation there. The Djinni Sock, or it's Soft Twist cousin - same fiber, softer yarn because of the looser twist. (hmm.. you may detect a theme here pretty soon. It has something to do with a wee smattering of cashmere in the yarn....) I was saved here by the color selections. They no longer had in the booth the yarn I coveted in a color I wanted. This makes them no less tempting, what with the website and all.

At Booth 807, we encountered Cape Fear Enterprises. They stock the most awesome lint roller you've ever seen. It picks up everything. Dimes! and seeds, and lint, and threads, and fur.... but DIMES! And then, rinses off and is as good as new!

Across the way in Booths 808, 806, 804, we found Yarn Mountain. There, they had a sweater that I really liked! I'd love to knit it. I even liked the yarn they designed it for (Kraemer, Summit Hill).

(pic ganked from Yarn Mountain)

Alas, at least in the booth, that yarn did not appear in any color that I want to knit or wear. The web site, however, reveals some future possiblities. The pattern (Princess Cardigan) has gone into my queue. Alas, the only place I can find any information on it is at the Kraemer site.

My old friends at Just Our Yarns were busy in booth 728. It took several tries before I was able to say hi! As always, I drooled over the cashmere, and was tempted by half the shop. Luckily (for me), my list slowed me down long enough to remember that I still have this (Geisha)

and this

in my stash along with some Almaza (again, I know there's a pic somewhere) and Aziza

and some Myne. Luckily, pattern scouting at Just Our Yarns yielded a plan for one of them -- and a design is blooming in my head to make that plan work! Elizabeth had a brief moment of glee when she spotted the coveted Chia Goo lace needles, but was saddened to discover that Just Our Yarns only had them in 24" lengths.

Right across the aisle, in booth 729, was Unwind Yarns, where I learned about Sweet GeorgiaSilk Crush. Can I just say: 50% superwash merino wool, 50% silk. yum. She can call it a sock yarn all she likes. As soon as I can afford to, I'm putting it on the shopping list for a sweater's worth.

WEBS yarn was in the middle between 700 and 600. As usual,it took up a big space in the middle of the Market. There, I found a number of the yarns I'd seen in the smaller shops. Elizabeth and I also investigated Berrocco Seduce for a sweater she's been thinking about considering. It's an interesting yarn. Kind of heavy in a way, but unlikely to be warm.

I rather liked this color: (WEBS pic). While there, I discovered that Oasis Yarns is not the only place to get Shalimar's Breathless. WEBs had it in several colors, including two that I might like better than the Heraldic: Byzantium and Asilomar (pics ganked from Ravelry and Shalimar yarns). WEBs, of course, is a shop that usually pries quite a bit of money out of my wallet. I feel rather proud of escaping (and yes, that is me swimming in the river Denial. We all know that sooner or later, my knit-group will place an order).

Time for a breather. I know we didn't take one in our first pass through the market, but I know how overwhelming it can be to look at all this yarny goodness. In each store, of course, there were plenty of other delicious yarns from which to choose. And though my colorway preference obviously leads to plums and teals, there were plenty of clear blues, and reds, and greens, and even oranges to choose from. All those yarns I've identified were just the ones that tempted me the most.